Switching Allegiances
by jaggedjacket
Summary: Shino is called to help remove a poison from Tenten. When half his bugs swich their allegiance to Tenten, Shino has to find a way to woo them back while helping her stay alive. LeexSakura Less Neji bashing. Me no own.
1. Chapter 1

Chaper One

She had more emotion than she knew what to do with. Normally she maintained to be a stoic creature. Androgynous to the world in her own eyes. When she dreamed, she was neither female nor male, just a person. A competent person. She wanted people to see her as a competent ninja, not just a competent female ninja. She struggled with this often. She frequently debated cutting her long hair, knowing she would be mistaken as a boy with her plain features. She wondered if she was strong enough to handle that when the moment did finally present itself if she ever went through it. At a particular moment of frustration, she found herself with one bun unraveled pressing a kunai against her soft long locks. She quickly upbraided herself and put the weapon away. It was a control issue. She had to gain inner control. Those who can't usually end up altering the things they do have control over -like the length of ones hair. This emotion was more of a surge that she had no outlet for-like the hype before a battle, only with out the battle. Her last mission seemed to elude her. Maybe emotion was the wrong word. Perhaps she was a vessel for kinetic energy ready to be released, she just lacked the release. She could feel something well up in side of her and she was unfamiliar with what exactly _it_ was. So she would train. Perhaps she needed to work off all of this caged emotion and angst? Was that really what it was? Was she that upset that she had to work twice as hard to get half the recognition of her fellow teammates? She wasn't the type to brood. Nor pout. She took it as her body's signal to pursue past her personal boundaries to the point of being uncomfortable. She needed to train with someone she wasn't familiar with. Or perhaps be paired on a mission with someone new. She decided to see the Hokage for another mission, even though she had just completed a rather vigorous one from the Mist Country. It seemed blurry at the moment. Her head desperately throbbed as she tried to recollect finishing her last mission. More pain. Nothing another mission couldn't solve.

She arrived, standing before the Hokage's desk before she had time to thoroughly think the idea through. Maybe a day or two to heal wouldn't be such a bad idea, she thought while the Hokage searched file after file, looking for…what was it exactly she was looking for? Missions couldn't be that short? could they? She peeked a glance at the paper on the desk with the eye that wasn't swollen shut while the Hokage searched in a drawer. The Hokage must have picked up on her apprehensiveness and shoved paperwork at her ordering her to have medical release before receiving another mission.

That was probably due to the fact that she might have dripped a little blood on her carpet on the way in. And her eye. It was massively hemorrhaged in several spots around the orbital socket. Half her face was swollen to elephant man degrees. She took a brutal beating saving Lee only because Neji had not done _his_ job of covering his back. She not only had that beauty, but some possible broken ribs and most likely a small hairline fracture in her left wrist. She was shaking. Not because of here injuries, but because she could feel very vividly the energy imbalance she couldn't place before. She needed her chakra realigned. Hospitals weren't her favorite place but it was the step she needed to take to get cleared for another mission. Then so be it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"An IV? Really? Is it really necessary?" she weekly complained to Sakura as she wheeled the clanking metal contraption along side her bed. "And seriously, overnight?" she tried to visibly stop shaking in her presence, "This is a joke right? Please tell me you weren't talking to Lee about all this, and if you were," Tenten perked up, "you can remind him it is my Spring Time of Youth and that I need to get the hell out of here." She added with a smile.

Sakura put a firm hand on her hip and raised and eyebrow, calmly establishing with nonverbal cues that there was no way she was leaving before her say-so. The pink haired kunochi continued the procedure for the IV hookup and explained: "While I am grateful that you saved my boyfriend's life, that in no way entitles you to leave without clearance from me, and," she sternly paused for effect, "it might be longer than a day."

Tenten began to sit up in her bed ready to leave at this news. Sakura pushed her down back on the bed. "Your adrenal glands have been poisoned, and we might be looking at surgery on your eye."

Tenten closed her good eye with a defeated sigh. _If it is to be that way_.

She acquiesced by shaking her head that she understood. Truth was she had no idea how bad the damage was since the eyelid was swollen shut. She assumed it was mostly just superficial -even pulled a Kakashi with her head band to hide it/apply poultice to it on the way back. Never quite did get it checked out…but it had only been a few hours since they arrived home, right? Perhaps that stern look from Tsunade was appropriate. Maybe Tenten had injured her brain. Did she really try to apply for another mission in her condition? A few days at the hospital would do her good...at least they could rule out a concussion, which she was now certain that she had, but someone failed to mention that to her, or they had and she didn't remember. Even worse. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Her head was fuzzy all of a sudden. She looked over at Sakura injecting something into her IV.

Oh right…drugs. Drugs were gooooood…

Sakura smiled as Tenten faded quickly out of consciousness. She met Lee outside of Tenten's room. He had been pacing back and forth in the hall for a while. He had a black eye himself of a lesser magnitude, was shirtless, and was wearing a sling that he hadn't noticed had started to bleed through by his wrist, not to mention a ton of other miscellaneous cuts, scrapes and bruises.

"Lee, sit down!" Sakura exclaimed, forcing him to take a seat in an empty wheelchair. "You ripped your sutures! Why aren't you in your room!" Sakura half yelled half asked as she applied pressure to his wrist to prevent further bleeding.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Lee apologized, finally focusing his big brown eyes on his girlfriend. He took a deep breath to relax. "Tenten-san was badly injured protecting me. She was very confused when we reached Konoha, I do not believe she has ever sustained such injuries before. She hallucinated most of the way back and I just want to be sure that she knows how sorry I am." He looked down. He felt ashamed. He should not have let her cover him like that, it wasn't her job. He began to get upset with his other teammate and pounded his good fist on the arm of the wheelchair in frustration. Sakura gently reached out to hold his hand. She offered a small smile and kind eyes that stated simply that she knew his intentions were good.

"Tenten is resting now, and I hear," she said playfully with a smile, "that she has a really good doctor." Lee gave a small grunt and smiled his white toothy smile-the one that always seemed to comfort her and make her feel a little warm inside at the same time. It was good to see him smile again. It disturbed her when he came in the other day half smooshed, half poisoned, and bleeding all over the place, raving that he had lost his teammate. Her heart had stopped thinking Tenten was dead, not realizing that he and his teammate had literally _misplaced_ her. And with a chronic head injury no less. She too began to be a little more than irritated at the Hyuga, who seemed to walk away unscathed from all of this while his teammates came in half dead. She wheeled Lee off to his room and had half a mind to lock him in his room for the night after checking his vitals and re-bandaging his wrist. She knew that Shizune was taking over her shift in a few hours which gave her some time to do the research she needed on the poison that Tenten had pumped through her system. Lee showed signs of the same poison, easily treated with a sophisticated medical ninjitsu, not nearly to the height of toxic levels that Tenten received. She figured Lee only received part of the poison from the blow. Which only made Sakura more afraid for Tenten, knowing that the magnitude that the toxin was having on her entire system. She was surprised she was alive at all, which led her to make an awkward phone call in the middle of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Just an evaluation, her condition is getting worse…" Sakura did expect to be interrupted so quickly,just not by what he had to say.

"I will be over shortly."

"Oh," Sakura expressed surprised, expecting to be completely shut down. The line clicked loudly and she was almost certain he had slammed the phone down. "Well, that was easy enough." She said looking at the receiver and hung up the phone.

He scared the living bajesus out of her arriving in 7 minutes flat, dripping wet from the sudden storm, and towering over her asking which room. She pointed across the hall to the room at the corner and followed him in.

She flat lined at his arrival, and they both rushed to her side, the Aburame uncertain of how to proceed yet ready to assist. Sakura grabbed a machine off the wall and tore open the pale Tenten's hospital gown slamming an electrical shock to her core.

Nothing but a loud flat line tone as they both stared at the monitor and the red line which seemed never-ending.

Again. He was surprised at how small she seemed being launched in the air with sudden burst of volts jarring her system. His kakkai buzzed worriedly inside of him like candy bursting from a piñata, and he was certain he would need the paddles soon if she did not recover.

Again. Sakura was now cursing. Using words in orders he had never heard from anyone in his life. He felt the desperation in the air. And then…

Beep.

The collective sigh flooded relief over them. Sakura wiped a small amount of perspiration from her brow still holding a paddle.

Shino had not realized that he was clutching the bed rail, white knuckled as if hanging on for dear life. In a way it seemed he was.

"Poison." He stated simply.

The pink haired kinochi nodded to confirm. She discussed in detail in the hall her theory about it being an adrenal poison, her hallucinations, head trauma, any information that might be relevant to the situation. He calmly asked question after question, she responding to the best of her knowledge and then he asked one she wasn't expecting.

"Her teammates," he spoke with a note of concern, "how are they?" he asked, knowing the relationship she and Lee had.

"Lee is in intensive care, broken ribs, crushed shoulder, compound fracture to the ulna, scrapes, bruises, and covered in about 5lbs of bandages and crusted blood." She paused to take a breath. "Lee only received about a tenth of the poison that Tenten did and it _was_ enough to use powerful ninjisu to fix. I can't replicate that a scale this big." She said shaking her head.

Shino stood quietly for a moment to take it all in.

"What of the Hyuga?"

"What of the Hyuga?" Sakura asked with obvious contempt. Uncertain of what she meant by this, he decided to proceed.

"How bad were his wounds?" he asked.

"_What wounds_?" Sakura pointed out more than asked. She could see his jaw tighten at her response as he looked over at Tenten though the open door. His dislike for the Hyuga began long ago with Neji's angst towards Hinata. Shino cared for her like a sister, and doubted if anyone but his fellow teammates knew as much. Shino knew long ago that he and Neji were never going to be best of friends.

"I will be at the end of the hall if you need me," she said pointing towards Lee's room. Shino nodded and began to take off his soaking coat in order for his kakkai to be more comfortable as he reentered the room.

He internalized the mission: to find and remove the toxins, to about a fifth of his hive. Eagerly, they agreed without hesitation, pouring out of him like a vibrating fluid on her bed. Invasively they entered; taking special care for the vessel in a way that Shino was certain he had never seen before. Not that he had ever seen them do a search and find this way before. Finding the poison, especially if it had hit the blood stream, was going to be especially dangerous, not only for Tenten, but for the bugs themselves. He was risking losing a fifth of his hive if things went horribly wrong not to mention…

They stopped as if waiting on order, or uncertain of how to approach the poison upon contact or hopelessly confused.

He took a moment to center himself and his kakkai, they waiting most eagerly to please him and him wanting them to accomplish this mission.

And as quickly as they came, they gathered once again, depositing a collection of gray matter in the bedpan on a trolley nearby.

_Well done._ He informed the hive, upon returning to himself collectively.

He noticed her erratic breathing had subsided and that her cold sweats seemed to diminish as well. Fever, he knew might still be inevitable at this time, but he hoped for the best. If she was lucky, she might only contain the small amount that Lee had when he first arrived.

He starred at her while her breathing stabilized to an even breathing pattern. He cupped the good side of her face in his hand to rotate her spine so he could assess the damage to her swollen wounds. He nearly winced as he did so. He could only think of who was ultimately responsible for such an atrocity.

Hyuga.

It was then that what happened next nearly caused Shino to have a heart attack himself. She reached out and forcefully and quickly grabbed his hand that was on her face and kept it next to her face as she snuggled it.

His knee-jerk reaction was:

"Those are some damn good drugs."

In truth he was touched very little growing up, even now, it was out of the ordinary to touch some one so frivolously as he touched her face, even if it was just to evaluate the severity of the wound.

He froze, unable to retreat, even if she was hallucinating, he felt compelled to let her do so. Her intention was not unkind. He could tell she needed comfort, something he lacked most often as a child and as an adult. He indulged himself with a caress of her face, noting its sheer soft appeal and touch.

Not many would reach out to him, even if they were delusional and hallucinating. He pushed it back to the stoic portion of his rational brain. _No one likes bugs_. He recited to himself again. _So no one likes me._ But yet she continued to seek solace in_ his_ touch, _his_ hand. He wondered secretly if this were the only time a peer of the opposite sex would be so willing to do so.

He momentarily panicked as her hand suddenly fell to her side. He looked to the beeping heart monitor for reassurance. She had just finally collapsed under the stress. It was a miracle that she had reached out for him in the first place. He pushed those thoughts aside and instead reviewed the information his bugs were so apprehensive about.

They seemed to be constantly abuzz like they were high. He was almost positive that it wasn't the drug. The kakkai had not any adrenal system to speak of, but it could have been laced with more than one toxin. It was rare they even exhibited emotion at all. Or simply what Shino thought of as emotion. The trace amounts of chakra they deposited in his body were a sensation all their own. He couldn't quite describe it as a warm, happy, calming, yet thrilling sensation. Like a part of him was missing that was just retrieved and all of his cells in his body did the happy dance upon its arrival.

It was odd, intensely good, but odd to him, and he wasn't sure what to make of this information. He noted that once the tiny brownish-black creatures came to deliver the drop off to him, they immediately ventured back to Tenten to find the rest of the poisonous substance even without Shino's say-so.

_Odd. They've never done this before._

Minute amounts of the substance were dropped off at the bedpan as they then made there way back to Shino to drop off more of their happy chakra and cycle back to Tenten again with a distinguishable victory noise of happiness that he could only equivocate to our "Wheee!" This time they just nestled themselves by her body, gently fluttering their tiny wings against her skin and making themselves cozy as could be.

_A little too cozy._

Shino frowned. Something he hardly ever did. His bugs were behaving abnormally and he prayed to Kame that it was not the poison they had just leached from Tenten's body.

He sent out a cluster of inspector bugs that had no contact with the poison to evaluate the ones who seemed to be exceptionally comfortable snoozing with Tenten. To his astonishment they simply joined the others, completely content with abandoning Shino altogether for her.

_Not funny, get your bug butts back here._

A small, but curt piped zipping noise was all that was muttered from the most dominant male of the small cluster on Tenten's body. He took that to mean that he had just gotten the finger and to "bugger off" pun intended.

As awesome as it was to interrupt his father's sleep, he was going to have to make a very annoying phone call.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"It would be pertinent to evaluate this situation as my actions have become futile." He stated calmly to his father. _Why do I get the feeling that he isn't telling me something?_

Shino kept calm, it was what he did. But a fifth of his kakkai bugs pulled a coup and his father seemed obnoxiously amused by it.

"I believe the poison that I extracted from her body is the culprit." Shino informed. It was certainly not amusing to _him_ at least.

"Poison?" Shibi's tone turned from humored to serious at the drop of the word. "You didn't say anything about poison son, what kind?"

_Now he's concerned._

"Adrenal, most likely, Sakura is looking it up now, but we still don't know, I was sent to…"

"I am on my way." He .

Shino sighed, and hung up the receiver. Then he promptly allowed himself to lean/ slightly bang his head against the wall in a moment of visual frustration. He took a deep sigh.

His dad made it to the hospital in 9 and a half minutes also soaking wet from the sudden storm that now seemed relentless.

_Nine and a half minutes? I really must tell him about that short cut._

Shino motioned towards her door as he nodded to his dad that he would go and get her doctor while he examined her.

Sakura managed to make her entrance just as a large flash of lightening manage to strike the nearby tower, creating a rather loud boom almost immediately afterwards.

They all saw it.

The figure's silhouette had been illuminated by the sudden nearby burst of lightening. Sakura shook her head as the figure promptly took off from the adjacent building. She had better things to do than deal with Tenten's teammate's malfunctions.

She caught Shibi up to date on her condition, down to using the paddles and even explaining the Lee's symptoms from a lesser standpoint in hopes that any and all information would be beneficial to her survival. Her pulse monitor beeped dismally in the background.

Shibi stood for a long time and sent out a dozen scouting kakkai to investigate Shino's wayward ones.

He graciously asked Sakura if he might be able to have a consultation with Lee, even though it was late. He needed more information while his bugs picked up the necessary data from Tenten. "Here," Sakura said to Shino before she left. She slapped a comb in his hands. "Make your self useful, watch out for hidden weapons, and try to get some of the dried blood out of it." She added. Shibi followed behind Sakura, leading the way down the hall and leaving Shino with Tenten.

He stared down at the comb and then to Tenten. He swallowed hard and frowned. It was now he wished he had more younger female cousins. The only female in clan was 8 months old and hardly had any hair. Guess he will be good at this by the time she has some hair because Tenten seemed to possess _a lot_ of hair.

His hands shook as he nervously approached her head, even though he was so willing to caress her face before. This seemed invasive and awkward and he had no idea what he was doing. He pulled a chair up close to the head of the bed to get better body mechanics while doing his task. He managed to undo one bun, which had started to become unraveled anyways, and remembered to watch out for weapons as he unraveled the second.

Shino uncovered an explosive tag, magnificently rolled up inside the confines of the second bun, and took a moment to be in awe with all the intricate details associated with it. She took special care that it would not accidentally go off at any time and had a special hand signal and possibly blood as the trigger. He was impressed to say the least. This ninja knew her explosives, and she was certainly not messing around. This particular tag made a BIG boom if he understood _his_ explosive tags correctly.

He came back to the task at hand and simply placed the tag by the toxic bed pan and hesitated. He tried to formulate a logical way to comb her hair, and decided from the tip of the hair toward the scalp made the most logical ninja sense. If there ever was such a thing. Her hair was soft brown and because of the softness seemed to be free from tangles. Unraveling her hair also brought out the smell of the shampoo that she used…it reminded him of vanilla, but it wasn't sweet like most vanilla smells were…it was more balanced. He wondered for a moment if she chose vanilla because it was a plain simple sent, but then why have any sent at all? Why have any hair at all? He supposed.

It didn't take long before Tenten's hair was perfectly combed and flowed like a chocolate river down her shoulders. Her hair probably reached to a little past half way down her back. It was gorgeous.

_I am sure Neji is jealous of it_. He thought smugly to himself. _He should be_. Then the thought of that loser being able to see Tenten with her hair down aggravated him for some reason. Just the thought of Neji seemed to aggravate him these days. Her face should not look like this. She should not be here in this bed right now. He should have done _something_!

Sakura and Shibi entered the room like they had bad news to share. Sakura started.

"Well, the good news is, whatever Lee thought were hallucinations weren't…just ramblings apparently, the drug doesn't make anyone hallucinate." She paused for a smile and looked at Shibi for more prompting then began again. "She is pretty much out of the woods, but I will have to be evaluating her before she checks out tonight, and I'll let you know if I will be performing surgery on her as well. I haven't gotten too close a look at the eye to see if there is any ocular damage, it could well all be just superficial. Her eye is too swollen for me to glace a peek." Sakura seemed nervous at this next part. "Shino," she began stepping closer so he could hear her as she was just above a whisper. "Your father and I think that she might be in danger." She made a quick eyeball jester to the window where they saw Mr. Tom Voyeur earlier. "She can't stay here, she is too vulnerable, _I_ want to take her back to _my_ place." She paused to make an disapproving expression to Shibi. "But he said that is what he might expect. He also said that your bugs were affected by the poison and that you would have to take them and her back to your place to find an antidote for it."

This all seemed logical to Shino, but his father seemed slightly amused still by all this.

Shino only nodded and stepped out with his father so Sakura could examine Tenten quickly before their departure.

"You're coat has dried." Shibi remarked handing the slate gray jacket to his son. "It would be best if I carried her as your bugs have become infected and mine have not."

"If you think it is best," he nodded.

Shino took his jacket and helped wrap Tenten in it. Her hair back up in its usual buns courtesy of Sakura, minus the exploding tag, which Shino decided to keep for himself for now.

She was so tiny he could have wrapped her twice in it.

Shino gave his father a look. There was a lot said in an Aburame look when you knew what you were looking for. His simply said he was uncertain of her health and if they needed to proceed outside the hospital. Shino was worried. Shibi nodded in reassurance, easing his son's feelings of apprehensiveness.

"This way father." His son gently commanded as Shibi picked Tenten up and carried her slumped against his chest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Quickly and painlessly they reached the complex, and in shorter time than Shibi had expected. His son had turned out to be quite an impressive shinobi.

"Will she be staying in the guest bedroom or in the infirmary?" His son questioned him as he helped his father unravel his coat from the sleeping Tenten.

"She needs to stay in the most guarded room of this complex." Shibi stated hoisting her back into her arms.

"Of course," Shino agreed, know her safety was number one priority. He followed his father down the hall to whichever destination that happened to be. Any of the rooms along the inner east wall would suffice.

"Good," Shibi stopped in front of Shino's door and then kicked it open. He gently placed Tenten down on top of Shino's bed to Shino's confusion.

Shino tried to open his mouth to protest but his father cut him off.

"Your insubordinate kakkai need to refamiliarize themselves with your sent. Your room also has the most sunlight of all the ones on the inner walls which Tenten will appreciate when she becomes conscience again." He paused to look around the room. It could have easily been mistaken for one of the guest rooms it was so little cluttered. He wondered to himself if this was normal teenage behavior. And now there was a beautiful girl sleeping helplessly in his son's bed. _Kame help us all_ he thought as he mumbled something to Shino about getting her comfortable while he brought back a book and to meet him in the kitchen in fifteen minutes.

Shino shifted his weight uncomfortably as he put his jacket back on. His kakkai buzzed again at the sudden blast of Tenten's scent as if getting high.

He shook his head at the scenario.

There was a pretty girl on his bed.

It wasn't as if he didn't want this.

It was just not the way his teenage mind had always thought it would go.

He frowned. He walked over to tuck her in, unconsciously brushing a fallen lock of hair from her eyes, and walked out to meet his father in the kitchen.

Shibi was consumed by the book he was reading at the kitchen counter bar and hardly noticed his son's penetrating stare.

"Her eye is first priority; I think your kakkai are the key. I need you to send a scout to relay this specific message." He reference page 314 paragraph three. Shino read the complicated message, and promptly sent a relay messenger to the other kakkai.

Shibi read the more than just a little confused look on Shino's face. Shibi smiled and explained in layman's terms: "Your rogue kakkai are going to amp her lymphatic system by stimulating it physically and then manually removing the hemorrhaging to her eye and creating more blood circulation in the clotted areas to boost her immune system."

Shino seemed to relax at these words. Shibi thought he would've been more concerned about his bugs but he was glad to be proven wrong.

Shino concentrated, raising a hand and releasing a cluster with the orders Shino memorized from the book.

Shibi once again was impressed with his son. Shino had no way of knowing that those bugs would ever return to him, yet he sent them willingly out just to help save her life. He must be down to half his hive by now he estimated.

Shibi and Shino helped set up the IV and heart monitor that Sakura had sent over, even though the ones from the Aburame infirmary were exactly the same. Shino shook his head, he would never understand girls.

The kakkai bugs worked non stop on Tenten's eye and lymphatic system. And Shino stayed with her late into the night. Despite all the other rooms he could choose to sleep in, he couldn't bring himself to leave for some reason. He internally decided that it was because he needed to sleep in his bed and that he couldn't leave his bugs. He logically clung to those reasons and if anyone asked, that was what he was going to say.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Tenten woke up groggy not quite ready to open her eyes or move. She listened instead and tried to recall the last thing from her memory.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Ok, that meant heart monitor, she noted. She wracked her brain for a battle, a mission, a teammate, something that gave her a time frame or estimation of what she was looking at when she opened her eyes.

She remembered screaming at Lee to duck. She remembered she didn't cover all of the damage with her body and that Lee had bee hit as well. Neji was not in his spot. He should have had Lee's back. He broke formation. There was so much blood. She remembered more screaming. She shivered from the memory. A split second layer she felt something of light weight begin to cover her starting from her feet going towards her head.

Now normally, Tenten is a logical creature, and if the sordid images of her last battle hadn't have just crossed her mind, she probably wouldn't have reacted with so much hostility.

She jumped, catching Shino with the element of surprise, and used her IV line as a rope to choke the Aburame. This happened instantaneously, and Shino hardly had time to drop the blanket before he was clutching at his throat and turning red.

"Why weren't you covering Lee's back Nej-Shino?" Tenten released the Aburame from her vice grip and let him up, helping him into the chair beside the bed. "Shino, I am so sorry." Tenten apologized while Shino coughed loudly in response. "really… sorry," she stammered with a forced smile. Shino coughed some more in response.

This gave Tenten some time to check out her surroundings while the Aburame regained his composure.

This also gave her time to rip out her IV and remove her heart monitor, find her real clothes….where were her real close and why was she covered in bugs?

Shibi entered the room with full force and then abruptly halted three steps in and took a step backwards.

"Good morning, Aburame-san," Tenten bowed awkwardly in her hospital gown.

"Tenten-san," Shibi bowed with equal awkwardness. He turned his attention towards his son, "Shino, your teammate is here," and promptly left with a curt bow.

_Oh for the love of Kame, please be Hinata_. Shino thought desperately.

The loud noise from down the hall of Akamaru and Kiba squeezing down the corridors confirmed his nightmare.

"Hoy! Shino! Why were you late for this morning's sparring pract-OH," Kiba loudly exclaimed filling the small room up with himself and his dog, which began licking Tenten ferociously and Shino used the distraction to pull Kiba aside.

"DUDE!" Kiba congratulated with a wide grin and wink, "she is _hot_, way to _go_!"

He nudged his rib with his elbow, "you shouldda said something I wouldn't come over." Kiba whispered loudly. By this time Shino was silently shoving him out the door.

"_Raus_!" Shino shouted to Akamaru and pointed a finger towards the door. The duo promptly left in the same chaos as they had come-loudly.

He turned to look at Tenten who was wiping dog hair from her gown with a smile on her face. Akamaru did always like her a lot for some reason.

"Apologies for my teammate," Shino said.

"Never a dull moment at the Aburame household I see," she said with a wink.

_No kidding. _Shino thought and then cleared his throat.

"I need to examine you, do you mind?" Shino asked. She gave a small nod of acceptance.

Shino walked over with a small flashlight and held her face still with both hands turning her head from side to side. He shinned the flashlight into each eye checking their dilation and reaction time.

"The swelling has drastically gone down," he said, "follow my finger."

He did a simple check to see if the muscles had been damaged.

"Am I gunna make it, Doc?" Tenten broke the silence. He hadn't realized their faces were so close together.

He consciously made a point to put distance between the two of them.

"You will live." Shino responded and cleared his voice.

His father returned briefly announcing Sakura before retreating again.

"Tenten!" Sakura half yelled in excitement that she was awake, half beratement for ripping out the IV and pulse monitor.

Shino closed the door for their privacy as she had a change of clothes with her.

He rolled his eyes. Something he doubted he had ever done except to Kiba before.

The whole situation was extremely awkward and exhausting. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't gotten any sleep.

He decided to find his father while the two girls powwowed in his room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The Aburame library was a large room filled with esoteric volumes on different species of bugs and their habitats. It was one of the few places in the Aburame complex that had windows on two separate walls. When the curtains were drawn the light touched every corner of the massive room. Shino spent time doing research when he could here. He became familiar with its volumes as much as his time would allow. He found his father pouring over an ancient text he himself had never seen before.

"Her doctor is examining her now," Shino stated the obvious reason for his arrival.

Shibi finished reading his sentence and then looked up at his only child. He noted the apprehensive quality that painted his son's normally calm features. He wanted to know if his bugs were lost…and probably how to deal with a teenage girl in his room. Not that he would ever ask that…but it was written on his face that it made him feel awkward.

"She can't leave yet. Your kakkai need to refamilarize themselves with you. They have found a chakra they think is more enticing to them and it is going to take some coercing on your part to get them back."

Shino looked confused. He thought his bugs were his and his alone.

Shibi wanted to offer more, but his son had to learn. Unfortunately the hard way, too.

Shino knocked on his own door, which was in and of itself weird.

Sakura and Tenten were finished with the exam, Tenten sporting her normal white flowing attire, and in the middle of asking to see her teammate Lee.

Sakura shook her head,"It's far too dangerous."

"I must agree." Shino added folding his arms across his chest for added effect.

Shibi appeared behind him asking to see Sakura out in the hall.

This left Shino alone in the room with Tenten.

"The swelling has gone down," he commented quietly as she rubbed the side of her face that used to be inches higher. "But I must ask you to stay. As I am sure Sakura has already informed you, my kakkai have gone rogue and risk death without a chakra source. If you would but give me a day or two of your time to analyze the problem, I am confident that I can remove them from you without too much trouble."

Tenten remained quiet, processing the information.

"Tenten, I realize you are still…" he couldn't finish his sentence, because her nose had started to bleed profusely and she had both hands cupped underneath her nose filled with blood right before she started to spaghetti leg. Shino caught her, a forearm underneath her knees and the other behind her neck. He yelled loudly for Sakura and and his father and sent some messenger bugs to his dad just in case.

He laid her down on the bed, and screamed again in desperation for some more help. She had gone horribly white and would probably start to seize soon.

Just as they entered the room she did. Shino did the best to hold her small frame on the bed as Sakura pulled out a syringe and injected it into her body as Shibi held her feet. A few mild convulses later she quieted down and appeared resting. Covered in blood and drugged, but resting all the same.

Shino looked at himself. Now he was covered in blood and wanted a shower. His kakkai buzzed anxiously at he smell and touch of her blood. He needed a shower and fast.

He pressed his palms on the tile and leaned into the scalding hot water watching it wash away and dilute the crimson liquid from his body. Despite the temperature of the water, it didn't seem to ease the loud humming inside of him. He couldn't figure out if was just her chakra making his bugs betray him, or if it was the poison from her system. Although his bugs that didn't come in contact with the poison, the ones that had only encounted her skin stayed on her too-but they could've come in contact with the other's who were so called "infected." He didn't seem to understand his father's comments on how he was supposed to "win" back the affections of his rogue kakkai. The more contact with her, the more agitated they seemed to become. He needed to come up with a solution, and he might need to find that book his father had been reading.

He quickly got dressed, not sporting his jacket anymore because it was covered in blood. A plain black shirt would have to do with his Capri's. He was home so he technically didn't need his jacket. He apparently needed to buy bigger shirts as well, he noticed that this particular one shrunk or he had recently gone through a growth spurt. He hated that the fabric was so clingy. This was just not his day. He would have gladly beaten the crap out of Kiba today. Hell, he would have even let Kiba beat the crap out of him. He threw his jacket in the wash with some bleach and detergent, cranked the water to as high as it would, and started the load.

Sakura came out to meet him in the hallway, also covered with blood.

Shino threw a thumb over his shoulder motioning where the bathroom was as he headed into his room.

"Lee can come by tomorrow if it is okay with you, he is being released tonight," she stated simply.

Shino nodded in approval.

"Her adrenal system has become erratic, but I am certain that after she breaks her fever she should be ok. I used the same jutsu I used on Lee. We just have to wait till she wakes up and it looks like she should be able to go home provided she doesn't hemorrhage again." Sakura added with an eye roll. "She took some serious trauma to the head, and I healed what I could but she has to rest for a while, at least a few days before she can even think about training or missions again."

Shino nodded. She was mentioning this to him so that he would watch out for her. He understood.

"I don't know how to help with your situation." She said softly as if apologizing.

"Her wellbeing takes priority." Shino stated. His way of saying no worries.

She reminded him that she needed plenty of rest before leaving.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Tenten woke up starving and weak. He was covered in blood. Again. It seemed silly to wear so much white in her line of work the way things were going lately. She wondered if she could sneak to the kitchen with out the tall one finding her. She tried a different approach. She asked Shino's bugs if they could direct her to the kitchen.

A particularly eager to please bug flitted its wings excitedly and urged her to follow.

_SCORE!_

She also authorized them to warn them when someone was approaching.

She was hoping that would work. And it did, until she didn't understand why they were flittling like mad until she ran straight into the Aburame's chest turning a corridor. It knocked the wind out her in her weak state and she swayed and stumbled. Shino caught her," you need rest, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Tag, you're it," she mumbled shaking her head trying to regain her senses. Shino was a pretty solid guy. Her head, at the moment, did not feel that way.

"Back to bed," Shino commanded stabilizing and leading her with his arm. He noted that a few of the bugs that were on her came back to him.

"I am so hungry, can I please have something to eat," she asked more than begged. Her tummy rumbled as she spoke.

He turned her around. He would probably give her the shirt off his back if she asked for it. Big brown eyes. He was such a sucker for them.

Shino reached in his pocket and pulled out a small round brown pill.

"Eat this."

She did so willingly with out question. When she had swallowed it after chewing she asked,"Can I have more to eat than just that?" Her eyes were pleading, and Shino actually chuckled.

"That was a blood pill," he smiled to her. "You can have my bento in the fridge downstairs."

"Arigato."

He helped her downstairs and helped her perch on a barstool as he presented her with his bento. He made himself a sandwich, standing next to fridge to eat in case she needed anything else to eat.

He gave her a glass of water and asked if she wanted anything else to drink.

She shook her head.

The bento was properly balanced, not too much rice or meat with a variety of vegetables. What every growing shinobi needs. _Itadakimasu!_

They devoured their food in silence.

Tenten realized how disgusting her shirt was after swallowing her last bite.

"Any chance I can borrow a shirt from you?" She asked meekly with a slightly coquette smile.

Shino crammed the last corner of his sandwich in his mouth and promptly threw up his elbows grabbing fabric from his back and yanking the shirt over his head.

He offered the black ball to Tenten, now half naked, unaware how awkward that was. His arm outstretched, still chewing his sandwich, Tenten took it with a mumbled," I didn't mean the one you were wearing."

She couldn't help but notice how lean and muscular he was. She wondered if he secretly did it on purpose or if he was just being weird.

Shino pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "No, I am sorry; I should get you a clean one, not one that I have been wearing all morning."

"It's fine," She smiled, "I just didn't want to inconvience you any further is all." She slipped off the stool and walked over towards the Aburame. "So far I've taken your bed, your bugs, your food, and now," she playfully hit him with his own shirt as she looked deeply into his eyes, (she could barely make them out through his sunglasses), "I have successfully taken the shirt off your back."

Shino swallowed. She was staring at him with those beautiful brown eyes of hers.

"That makes me a lousy house guest." She ventured a joke again.

"It's too small for me anyways," he said finally regaining his composure and sidestepping her.

"Thought it was a fashion statement." Tenten joked again. Shino turned around and gave her a quizzical look. "Kidding." She brushed passed him heading upstairs.

"Tenten,"

"I know, rest, I got it." She recited without looking back as she walked up the stairs towards Shino's room.

Shino ran a hand through his hair after she disappeared.

"Son," Shibi addressed him from out of nowhere. He pretended not to be as startled as he was.

"Tousan," Shino addressed back.

"Put a shirt on."

"Hai."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Shino knocked on the door to his room and entered with permission. Tenten had managed to change into Shino's black shirt and was staring out the window. He used the time to rummage through his drawers for a clean shirt that fit.

"_Kuso_!" Shino cursed. Tenten returned her attention to him.

"…"

"My apologies," Shino began, "but it seems all my shirts are of one size today- too small."

"Maybe for you." Tenten smiled pulling at the gathered fabric on her body. His shirt was far too big for the petite ninja. Though, he did like the fact that she was wearing it for some reason.

"So, how are we going to fix your kakkai problem? Did you come up with any solutions?" Tenten ventured for a change of topic. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Shino paused his ransacking of his dresser and stood up straight. She looked genuinely concerned for their well being. He didn't expect so much fuss over something that hardly concerned her.

"The only piece of information I was given was, 'Your kakkai need to refamilarize themselves with you. They have found a chakra they think is more enticing to them and it is going to take some coercing on your part to get them back,' " Shino offered.

Tenten responded with a quizzical look.

Shino shrugged his shoulders.

"Shino we have to try something," Tenten resorted to saying. "It would be a shame to loose this much of your hive." She reached out and took his hand. "Maybe if I tell them to go to you they will." She tried to summon some to her palm. One eventually listened, hopped on her hand, and very cautiously continued towards Shino's hand. She noticed his hand was slightly calloused even though she was certain he didn't practice much hand to hand techniques. She tried to focus on the task at hand.

Her hands were calloused as well, they were tiny with short nails, and she had tiny cuts and lacerations on both sides of them.

The tiny bug hopped onto Shino's hand. Tenten's face lit up with delight. Shino smiled revealing straight white teeth with one canine longer than the other.

_A perfect flaw, _Tenten thought to herself as she brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

…

Shino never did put on a shirt. They found the skin contact helped the bugs recognize him better. Not that either of them minded. She had eventually found herself sitting in his lap both facing the window's view of the garden. They were satisfied to spend the better part of the day in each other's arms, under the farce of helping Shino and his bugs, as they watched the sun's last beams leave the courtyard.

"Look Henry is finally coming around!" Tenten pointed with delight as an unusually large kakkai bug approached Shino in a slow but steady manner.

"You started naming them?" Shino asked with amazement and jest. "What if 'Henry' already had a name? What if I already named him something else?" Shino teased.

"Oh, he told me that was his name." Tenten explained with confidence. "For an Aburame, you should really be more in tune with your bugs," she dared.

At that, he tickled underneath her arm, which made her squirm and gently push a shoulder into his chest. She relaxed against him as the bugs made their slow migration back to Shino's body. He rested his chin on top of her head holding her in a firm, yet gentle position: he could feel a possessive feeling of wanting her for himself come upon him very quickly. He liked it, yet it scared him at the same time.

"Oh, I'm going to miss Pontouff," Tenten announced with a pout.

Shino watched the smaller than average bug gingerly cross the boarder between Tenten's hand and Shino's forearm. It wasn't a younger bug, just happened to be smaller than the average Kakkai. "He's so cute." She added waving good-bye to him as he buzzed up to Shino's shoulder.

Shino's brain had a hard time processing that information.

"Wait," Shino argued, "bugs aren't cute."

"Shino!" Tenten spoke incredulously, "they can hear you, ya know!" Tenten reached out a finger to reassure Pontouff, "he didn't mean it Pontouff, he's just crabby because the laundry gnomes shrunk his shirts," she added in a coddling coo.

Shino reached over and took the small bug on the tip of his pointer finger. "You think _this_ is _cute_?" He asked for clarification.

"Yes, _he_, is." Tenten stated looking only slightly annoyed at his need for further explanation.

"Wait," Shino cocked his head to one side, "How do you know Pontouff is a male and not a female?"

"The females have longer legs in the front." She stated simply with a shrug. "I think _I_ should keep him." She stuck out her tongue for good measure while trying to get Pontouff to jump from the tip of Shino's finger to the palm of her hand. Shino moved his hand behind him up in the air to distance Pontouff from Tenten. He faked a sound of shock, "I think you hit your head harder than you thought, Pontouff is _mine_."

She made a weak attempt to retrieve the bug. "Oh come on, you won't miss him, its just _one_ bug."

She stuck out a lip and opened her big brown eyes in an effort to persuade the Aburame to accede.

He sighed and then brought little Pontouff over and gently placed him in her palm. He flickered his wings in delight.

"I'm glad you changed your mind," Tenten thanked him. "Besides, I hear kakkai custody battles can be a bitch," she added with a playful nudge of her elbow.

Shino gave her an all-out chuckle…and Tenten decided that she now had a good excuse to see the Aburame whenever she wanted…Pontouff would miss his friends. She smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

Prologue

Shibi distantly observed his son's room as surreptitiously as possible. From what he could tell, they were both sitting on his bed monitoring the kakkai's behavior and flirting. They had managed to figure out the more skin to skin contact the better for transferring the kakkai back to their original owner. He smiled. He was pleased at the giggles and teasing he heard coming from the room. The playful hitting and banter was a sound he hadn't heard in the house since Shino's mother was alive. She would be proud of their son, and the choice of the kakkai that were once partly hers. They must have been reminded of her, or they would not have chosen such a worthy person to switch allegiances.


End file.
